IG Report Finds 'Slight Discrepancies' In Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's Travel
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore's inspector general's office on Tuesday released its report into two years' of Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's travel and ethics disclosures months after Mosby herself requested an investigation following media reports she said were misleading.
The inspector general's office reviewed Mosby's out-of-town travel in 2018 and 2019 and found she took 24 trips that kept her out of town for a total of 85 days. Most of those trips were not paid for by taxpayer money but rather by sponsoring organizations. During some of the events, Mosby was a speaker or panelist.
The report found there were "slight discrepancies" in expenses between what Mosby reported in state financial disclosures and a list she gave the inspector general's office. While the newer list had one additional trip on it, the total cost of all of the trips decreased due to a number of corrections.
Under city policy, Mosby was required to seek Board of Estimates approval for some travel, which the report said she did not do for the at least 15 events for which it was required.
The report also looked into a number of gifts Mosby received and said she donated to her office's annual winter solstice event to raise money for crime victims.
It did not find any evidence that any of the gifts were donated and auctioned.
It also examined three businesses Mosby created in 2019. Mosby said the businesses have no clients and have no revenue. She claimed a $5,000 business loss in her disclosure form, but the inspector general's office did not get information about the transactions that led to the losses.
The report concluded the inspector general's office does not have the ability to determine if Mosby fully complied with public ethics laws, deferring to the Maryland State Ethics Commission.
In a statement following the report's release, Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office spokesperson Zy Richardson said:
"After seven months of an exhaustive investigation which State's Attorney Mosby asked for, there has been no finding of wrongdoing, unethical behavior and most importantly no abuse of taxpayer dollars. The State's Attorney is glad that this investigation has concluded and our office is moving forward with the important work of the people's business."
Mosby's attorneys wrote a letter to the inspector's general office in response to the report. They said they were, "pleased with the bottom-line outcome", but said Mosby did not have an opportunity to, "address certain areas of perceived concern" that were in the report.
READ MORE: Marilyn Mosby Asks Inspector General For Independent Review Into Past Travel
"While we are certainly pleased with the bottom-line outcome, it is perplexing that you did not give Mrs. Mosby the opportunity to address certain areas of perceived concern that were identified in your Report, but never brought to our attention."
They called for the inspector general's office to, "fix the misstatements and inaccuracies" of certain aspects of the report and issue a new one.
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